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Shakespeare's Coat of Many Colours

Interview with Rickey Chick, Director of Development

Rickey invited us to her home where she hosted a delightful brunch reception on our Sunday morning in Nashville. We were joined by many members of the festival company and we all of us enjoyed a group discussion for well over an hour. Extracts from some of that will be posted here in due course, and the discussion as a whole is a wonderful addition to the archive of this extraordinary road-trip.

Later, though, we were able to interview Rickey on her own. She spoke to us very movingly about her belief in community, what is distinctive about the Nashville Shakespeare Festival, its work with young people, and how she sees its values reflecting Shakespeare’s own.

Along the way she talks about a special quilt the festival is making and mentions the Dolly Parton song ‘The Coat of Many Colours.’ I didn’t know the song but am pleased I now do. It’s a great illustration of the truthful simplicity on which Country music relies and which we found in spades in the people and places we spent time in. You might like to listen to it on YouTube by clicking here